Are you someone who enjoys trying new products in the supermarket? Or are you trying to better understand the nutritional value of the foods you eat? If so, you have probably taken a look at the product’s labels. In my experience, they can be a little bit tricky to understand, so in this article I will break down the different components of the nutrition declarations you will find in supermarket products. I will also talk about two labels that make the nutritional information easier to understand, namely the traffic light system and the Nutriscore.
What should be included in nutrition labels?
Depending on the country you live in, the nutritional information labels (also known as nutrition declaration) might look different because each country has its own regulations. On the Venn Diagram below, I have summarized what nutrients should be included in an American and European food label using the regulations stated in sources [1] and [2] as of June 2024. Keep in mind that these might get updated in the future.
As you can see, there are some common nutrients that must be declared on both labels. In general, the USA requires more nutrients to be declared in the label. It also differentiates between “sugars” and “added sugars.” This just highlights what sugars are naturally present in the product and which ones are added by the manufacturer. For example, in orange juice, some sugars will be naturally present in the oranges, but perhaps the taste of the juice is too sour so the manufacturer decides to add more sugars. In my opinion, you should just look at the total sugars in the product if your sugar intake is something you want to be more conscious of.
In addition to these nutrients, you will find some information on the energy or caloric value. In the EU, this is expressed per 100 ml or 100 g, so the consumers can calculate how many calories they will get depending on the portion size they choose to eat. In the USA, the energy value is already expressed as calories per serving. Besides the nutrient information and the energy value of the food, there are other things that a food label must contain, namely allergens and the % daily value.
Allergens
If you go to your pantry and take a food with a label on it, you might see that it contains an ingredients list. In Europe, some of these ingredients may be highlighted by writing them in bold, caps, italics or underlined because they are common allergens, and they include things like nuts, gluten, fish, and milk [4]. In the USA, the allergens may be indicated by the use of parenthesis or by a general statement saying that the food contains specific allergens [3]. By highlighting these ingredients, people with a specific allergy can easily check whether they can eat that food product or not.
Daily value
If you take a closer look at the label, you might also see that next to the nutrients, you have a column titled “% Daily Value,” “% DV,” or sometimes as “% RI.” This column tells you how much a nutrient in this food product contributes to your recommended daily nutrient intake. Keep in mind that this value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet, so even though it is helpful to know how much the food that you are eating overall contributes to your daily calorie intake, it may not be fully accurate for you. Things like your age, sex, level of physical activity, weight and height are important in determining how many calories you need in a day [5], so keep in mind that everyone’s nutritional needs are different.
As you can see, there is a lot of information that has to be included in nutritional labels. I think that understanding this information is important because it can help us make more informed food choices. In the image below I have highlighted the main components you can find.
I know it is a lot to take in. You don’t always have to look at all components of a food label, what you choose to look at depends on your personal situation. For example:
- Ingredients list: relevant if you have specific foods you want to avoid. For example, some people don’t eat gelatin due to religious reasons.
- Allergen declaration: relevant when you have a food allergy and need to avoid some ingredients.
- Energy value: relevant when you are trying to eat more or less calories.
- Nutrient information: relevant when you want to limit or increase your intake of a specific nutrient. For example, some people may choose products with lower sugar content or others may choose products with a higher protein content.
- % Daily Value: relevant for people who are trying to stick to the recommended daily intake per nutrient.
Now that we have covered what you can find in the nutrition declaration, let’s talk about two additional systems that you may see in a food package. The aim of these is to make it easier for you to understand the nutritional information, they are called the traffic light system and the Nutriscore. They are not mandatory to include though, so companies only include them in the package if they want to.
The traffic light system 🚦
The traffic light label displays the content on nutrients like fat, sugars, and salt in a visual way [6], it also provides some information on the % daily recommended value. Just like a stoplight, it has three colors that reflect the quantity of a certain nutrient in the food product:
🟢 Green means that the nutrient is in a low quantity.
🟡 Yellow means that the nutrient is in a medium quantity.
🔴 Red means that the nutrient is in a high quantity, so you should be more mindful about the portion of the food you want to eat.
Let’s use an example. Below, you can find the traffic light label of a white chocolate.
When looking at the description of the traffic light label, it says that the information refers to eating three pieces of chocolate. So, you could start by questioning whether this information will be fully relevant for you: will you eat three pieces of chocolate? Maybe you decide to eat more or less, so also realize that this information is dependent on your portion size.
You could also see that there is one nutrient in green while three nutrients are marked as red. This means that the quantity of the three nutrients (fat, saturates, and sugar) in the product is high, so if you strive to meet the recommended daily intake, you should be mindful of your portion size.
The Nutriscore
The Nutriscore rates food products on their nutrient composition using a scale that goes from A – E. To get to this scale, a system of point addition and subtraction is used. Ingredients like fiber, protein, vegetables, and fruits provide a food product with positive points, whereas ingredients like fat, sugar and salt give the food product negative points [7]. At the end, the label is based on the total number of points that a food has.
Sounds simple, but the Nutriscore is not always so accurate because it does not fully consider that the nutritional value of a food may change after cooking. For example, frozen potatoes that are cut into fry shapes can have a Nutriscore of A, but their actual nutritional value also depends on how they will be cooked after they are bought. As you can imagine, if you air fry or bake the potatoes, they will have a much lower fat content than if you fry them.
The addition and subtraction system of the Nutriscore may not always reflect what the best choice for you would be. For example, there are some protein drinks that have a Nutriscore of A because they are enriched with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Sounds pretty good, right? But if you take a look at the label, you might be surprised by how much sugar is actually in one drink. So, if you are someone trying to build muscle mass and eat more protein, these types of products might be a really good choice for you. But if you are someone trying to eat less sugar, the Nutriscore would not per se reflect that this is not the best choice for you.
I think that both the Nutriscore and the traffic light system are good labels to look at because we can use them as a guide to make a more nutritious food choice. However, you should keep in mind that these labels might not always reflect what the better choice would be for you, as we all have different nutritional goals and needs. So, I would also recommend taking a look at the nutrition declaration.
Main takeaways
✅ There are 5 main components on a nutritional declaration label: the ingredients list, allergen declaration, the energy value, the nutrient quantity in the product, and the % daily value. You can choose to look at all these components to make a more informed choice or to only look at the sections that are relevant for your own nutrition goals.
✅ The Nutriscore is based on a scale from A – E, with A representing a more nutritious food choice.
✅ The traffic light system gives a visual representation of the nutrient content of a certain food. When the color is red, the nutrient is in a high quantity, so you need to be more mindful of portion size.
✅ Both the Nutriscore and the traffic light system labels can be used as a guide to make a more nutritious food choice, but they might not capture all information that is relevant for you, so I also recommend taking a look at the nutrition declaration.
References
In case you want to read more about this topic, here are the sources I used:
[1] Nutrition declaration – EU labelling rules – (n.d.). Your Europe. https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/product-requirements/food-labelling/nutrition-declaration/index_en.htm#:~:text=This%20is%20called%20’nutrition%20declaration,carbohydrate%2C%20sugars%2C%20protein%20and%20salt
[2] Changes to the nutrition facts label (n.d.). FDA. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/changes-nutrition-facts-label
[3] Food Allergies. (n.d.). FDA. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies#:~:text=The%20name%20of%20the%20food,the%20name%20of%20the%20ingredient.&text=Immediately%20after%20or%20next%20to,%2C%20milk%2C%20and%20soy
[4] Food labelling rules (2024, November 3). Your Europe. https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/product-requirements/food-labelling/general-rules/index_en.htm
[5] How many calories should you eat in a day? (2024, April 1). Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-many-calories-a-day-should-i-eat#:~:text=Many%20factors%20go%20into%20determining,and%203%2C000%20calories%20per%20day
[6] Stewart, C. (2024, January 24). Traffic Light Labelling: A guide for food businesses. Ashbury Global. https://ashbury.global/blog/traffic-light-labelling/
[7] Nutri-Score. (n.d.). RIVM. https://www.rivm.nl/en/food-and-nutrition/nutri-score
All the best,
~ Lucia